Home Doctor: Practical Medicine for Every Household
SECOND DEGREE SPRAIN There is partial tearing of the ligament, and the patient has pain, swelling, bruising, and some instability in walking.
THIRD DEGREE SPRAIN This is a complete rupture of the ligament, sometimes even with fracture of the bone. The patient is unable to mobilize and stabilize the joint. There is a lot of pain and bruising.
Martin E. Walder, Micha L. Rieser, Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Diagnosis The sprain is easy to diagnose just by looking at it. It is a patient who has sprained a joint, most commonly the wrists and ankles, and has swelling and pain. Try to gently move the joint so that you can appreciate the degree of resistance it presents. A very loose joint, which makes movements that are not proper for it, is an unstable joint and should be immobilized. 216
